In general, a refrigerator refers to an apparatus for cooling interiors of a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment and freshly maintaining foods for a predetermined of time as it repeats a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant is compressed, condensed, expanded, and evaporated.
To this end, a refrigerator includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant introduced from the compressor with exterior air, an expansion valve for reducing pressure of the refrigerant introduced from the condenser, and an evaporator for absorbing heat in the refrigerator as the refrigerant having passed through the expansion valve is evaporated in a low pressure state.
The refrigerator includes a body defining a receiving space divided into a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment therein, and doors for opening and closing the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber at a front side thereof, and a machine chamber is formed in the body such that the compressor and the condenser are installed therein.
Further, an icemaker for automatically sequentially supplying water, making ice pieces, and separating the ice pieces to manufacture ice pieces may be installed in the freezing compartment, and a predetermined manufactured ice pieces are preserved. Further, a dispenser for withdrawing ice pieces to the outside is mounted to the door.
The icemaker includes a water supply tank in which water for manufacturing ice pieces is stored, an ice tray to which the water stored in the water supply tank and in which ice pieces are manufactured, and an ice bank in which the ice pieces manufactured in the ice tray are stored.
The ice pieces completely manufactured in the ice tray are separated through heating of an ice separating heater.
However, the icemaker according to the related art wastes energy as an ice making mode is repeated even when a water shortage situation such as suspension of water supply, a local water pressure difference, and suspension of a water service is generated during a water supply process. That is, since the icemaker according to the related art fails to have a control algorithm for determining a water shortage condition (abnormal water supply), the mode of the ice maker cannot be converted into a preserving mode in the water shortage condition and the ice maker is still operated in an ice making mode.
Further, the icemaker according to the related art an ice separating process following a heating process regardless of a state of ice pieces once it reaches an ice making completing temperature. That is, imperfect ice pieces in which an outer side thereof is frozen but an interior thereof is still unfrozen may be produced, which ice pieces may be broken during an ice separating process, causing ice pieces preserved in an ice bank to be stuck to each other. That is, as the icemaker according to the related art determines completion of ice making only through measurement of temperature by a sensor, it is difficult to prevent production of such imperfect ice pieces, and fails to disclose a control algorithm for determining completion of ice making by applying other elements other than measurement of temperature.
Further, the ice maker according to the related art maintains a state in which ice pieces are constrained by the ice tray during an ice separating process despite an operation of the ice separating heater, disturbing rotation of the ice separating lever. That is, ice pieces are compulsorily manufactured through continuous ice making while the ice pieces are not completely separated, and thus, an operation of the ice maker may be completely stopped.